Current sunshade systems for motor vehicles are of two general types. The first employs a single (primary) visor panel pivotally mounted adjacent the upper edge of the vehicle windshield (the forward edge of the vehicle roof). The visor is stored in a position against the vehicle's headliner and is pivotable downwardly to shield the eye's of an occupant of the vehicle from sunlight entering the vehicle of the windshield thereof. The visor panel may also be pivoted horizontally to a position adjacent a front, side window of the vehicle to shield the occupant from sunlight entering the vehicle through a side window.
A second type of sunshade system is similar to that described hereinabove but employs a second visor as well. The second visor is also pivotally mounted adjacent the forward edge of the vehicle roof and pivots only up and down. This second visor, sometimes known as a secondary visor, shades the vehicle occupant from sun entering through the windshield when the first visor panel (also known as the primary visor) is positioned against the side window of the vehicle. The secondary visor is typically thinner than the primary visor and is stored against the headliner, between the primary visor and the headliner when the visors are not in use. An example of such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,111 to Hemmeke, et al.
It is a common practice, particularly in upscale vehicles to provide the primary visor on the upper (when stored) surface thereof with a vanity mirror module consisting of a mirror in which the occupant of the vehicle can view himself or herself, and a pair of lights usually disposed at the sides of the mirror for illuminating the occupant's face. The module may also include an on/off switch and a dimmer for the lights as well as a cover for the mirror and a suitable latch therefor. An example of such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,404 to Marcus.
The sunshade-vanity mirror systems described hereinabove exhibit a number of limitations and disadvantages. In the evolution of automobile body design, the windows of the vehicle have become larger and the roof area thereof has become smaller whereby the location of the forward edge of the roof which, in the part, was well forward of the heads of the vehicle occupants, is now almost directly thereabove. Such close proximity between the forward edge of the roof and the occupant's heads renders operation of prior art sunvisor systems awkward at best. For example, in modern vehicles, it is often required that an occupant move his head backward in order to provide room to pivot the relatively large primary visor downwardly from a stored position against the headliner to an operating position between the occupant's eyes and the windshield. The same is true for the pivoting of the primary visor from a position adjacent the windshield to its other operating position adjacent the side windows of the vehicle. Likewise, since the vanity mirror is mounted on the upper surface of the primary visor, similar difficulties are encountered in pivoting the primary visor downwardly, from its stored position, to a position where the vanity mirror may be used. Furthermore, since deployment of the vanity mirror requires that the large primary visor be pivoted downwardly, a large field of view through the windshield is blocked by the primary visor merely for deploying the much smaller vanity mirror. Similarly, to shade the occupant's eyes from sun entering the vehicle at the upper-most portion of the windshield, the large primary visor must be swung through an arc within which the primary visor, at least momentarily, blocks a major portion of the occupant's forward field of view. This commonly known "blind spot" represents a safety risk when the primary visor is deployed by the driver as the vehicle is operated. Such inconvenient adjustment of the primary visor is also required to access the secondary visor stored therebeneath. There are various other drawbacks associated with known visor vanity mirror systems. Since the lighting for the vanity mirror is typically disposed adjacent to the mirror directly in front of the vehicle occupant, such lighting tends to be very harsh and glaring to the user thereof, particularly at night. Such placement of the lighting also tends to cause severe shadowing and therefor significantly limits the utility of the mirror in such applications as the application of cosmetics and the like. Furthermore, in order to adjust the distance between the mirror and the occupant's face, the occupant must continually adjust his or her seating position since the mirror is not adjustable in a front-to-back direction. Inasmuch as the module comprising the vanity mirror lights and controls therefor is rather heavy, a bulky primary visor and mount therefor is required to adequately support such a module. Such bulk not only reduces vehicle headroom, but presents a risk of injury due to impact with such equipment in the event of a vehicle crash.
As mentioned previously, in current sunshade systems for motor vehicles, the primary sun visor panel is a rigid member pivotally mounted adjacent the upper edge of the vehicle windshield so as to pivot downwardly from a stowed position along the headliner of the vehicle to a position against the windshield to shield the eye's of an occupant from sunlight entering through the windshield of the vehicle or to pivot horizontally to a position adjacent a front, side window of the vehicle to shield an occupant's eyes from sunlight entering through the front, side window. It has also been suggested to pivotally mount a rigid sun visor panel to the upper region of the forward roof pillar so as to pivot upwardly from a stowed position along the forward roof pillar to a deployed position so as to extend along the front side window. Systems of this type are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,570,991 and 4,614,375. It is also known to dispose a visor panel within the headliner above a side window such that when the side visor panel is in a raised position, its is stowed within the headliner and when the side visor panel is in a lowered position it extends downwardly from the headliner over the side window. Systems of this type are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,468,062; 4,824,160 and 5,000,506.